Chapter 46 Chapter 44: The Cow and the "Locust"

A tiger that does not come out of its den cannot be beaten. Cao Cao tried his best to challenge Lü Bu, but Lü Bu didn't come out of Puyang City, saying, "It doesn't fall into your plan." Therefore, friction between front lines, skirmishes between scouts and small groups of troops happened every day, day and night.But there is no decent battle, and the place cannot be stable. No, the ferocity of the turmoil in the world is not unique to this one place.Where there is land and where people live, bloody winds have blown all over. On such a land, there has been an event that makes the people more sad than war.

One day, the sky was clear and cloudless.A black cotton-like thing floated from the far west.Soon, it seemed to be full of the sky like a gust of wind and clouds. "It's locusts! It's locusts!" The people suddenly became agitated. Hearing that the locusts were coming, the farmers were at a loss, crying sadly, throwing away their hoes and shovels, and fled into the beehive-like earthen houses. All hope was lost, and they moaned in despair. They could only tremble and sigh: "Ah, there is no way." A swarm of locusts came, more numerous than the grains of yellow sand brought by the Mongolian storm.The shadow of the monster worm is like a cloud covering the sky, making the day dark for an instant.

Looking at the ground again, the ground is also a vast ocean of locusts.The locusts devoured the ears of rice in an instant, and there were no grains left.Then, the monster worm's gusts shifted to other places one after another. Later, the locusts had no rice to eat, and finally the hungry insects gnawed on each other. In the field where not even a single ear of green rice was left, the empty locust remains were covered. However, this tragic scene does not only exist in the locust society.Soon, humans started eating each other too. "No food!" "I can't live anymore!"

Grieving refugees run here and there chasing food. Without food and farmers who grow food, the army will not be able to play the role of the army. The army also has to run for "food".Moreover, in Shandong countries, due to the plague of locusts, prices have skyrocketed.The price of a dendrobium rice is one hundred guan, but it is still not available. "That's all!" Cao Cao also had nothing to do about this, and he had no way to start. Soldiers can't support themselves, so why talk about war.As a last resort, he withdrew his position and hid in another state for the time being. He ordered to cut down on food and clothing, survive the great famine, and wait for the future. There is no other way.

Similarly, it is impossible for Lu Bu in Puyang not to suffer from this disaster. "Cao Cao's army finally broke the siege and withdrew." "Well, is that so?" Hearing the report, Lu Bu Zhi responded, still frowning. He also strictly ordered the grain and grass officials to say: "Slow water flows long!" Naturally, the two sides ceased fighting.The locusts make humans stop wars. Having said that.Spring is still here.Summer is here again.The earth will also vigorously support the tender green grains and ears of rice.Locusts do not attack every year.But as long as the land can make all things bear fruit, the wars of human beings will last forever.

Xuzhou State Mu Taoqian pondered every day in his hospital bed that he should give up Xuzhou to others before he died. "Aside from Liu Xuande, there is no one else." He is seventy years old.This time he was seriously ill.I feel that I am dying, but I can't see any reassuring signs in Xuzhou in the future, and I am very troubled. "What do you think?" He raised his dull old eyes and asked Mi Zhu and Chen Deng, who were standing beside the pillow, "Cao Cao withdrew his army this year due to the plague of locusts, but in the coming spring, he will come back again. If God Bless you, when Lu Bu attacks his back again, there will be salvation. However, miracles will not always happen. My fate is like this, and I don’t know how long I can live. Therefore, I want to determine my successor now.”

"That's right." Mi Zhu understood the old Zhou Mu's inner thoughts, and personally recommended, "The Zhou Mu invited Liu Xuande to come here again, how about sincerely speaking?" Tao Qian got the minister's consent, he seemed to regain some energy, and said: "Send the envoy to go quickly." When Liu Bei saw the envoy, he didn't have time to bring anything, so he rushed to visit Zhou Mu when he was ill. Tao Qian stretched out his dead wood-like hand, held Liu Bei's hand, and said, "If you don't agree, I will die with regret. For Xuzhou, and to defend the territory of the Han Dynasty, no matter what, please take the land of Xuzhou and serve as the governor of the state."

"No. Thank you for your kindness..." Xuande still refused. "You still have two sons..." Xuande just wanted to explain the reason, but he was afraid that mentioning this topic would cause the terminally ill patient to become emotional again and scold his worthless son, so he shook his head stubbornly and said, "I'm not That piece of material!" Between humility, Tao Qian finally died. Xuzhou mourned.The people in the city and the scholars in the city were all dressed in filial piety, shrouded in an atmosphere of mourning.After the funeral, Xuande returned to Xiaopei.Mi Zhu, Chen Deng and others immediately came to visit as representatives, and begged again and again: "The state shepherd cared about you before his death, so please bear with it and become the state shepherd."

The next day, Xiaopei Yamen gathered a large number of people.Xuande didn't know what happened, so he went out with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to see. "Ah, Master Liu Bei!" Seeing his figure, hundreds of people knelt on the ground and petitioned in unison, "We and the people have suffered from wars for years, and locusts this year. If there is any wish, it is to wish Establish a good state shepherd and implement benevolent government. If someone else becomes the state shepherd instead of you, we will have to wander all night, and maybe many people will hang themselves to death.”

There were also people in the crowd who were crying loudly. Seeing these poor hungry people, Liu Bei finally made up his mind to receive the state animal husbandry seal and ribbon, and moved to Xuzhou since he was a child. So far, Liu Xuande has won the position of governor of a state for the first time. His state did not come from the use of unnamed violent troops and vicious schemes to defy the mandate of heaven and take plunder.It can be said that it is extremely natural, conforming to the destiny, and coming from the teaching. Liu Bei was born in Yihan Village, Zhuoxian County, and he has been adhering to integrity up to now.Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and others always said with disdain, "Brother is a little behind the situation."But now it seems that this seems to be a detour, but it is actually a shortcut.

After he became Xuzhou shepherd, the first thing he did was to worship the spiritual seat of former state shepherd Tao Qian and hold a grand funeral on the Yellow River plain. Then it was presented and played to the court to demonstrate Tao Qian's virtue and legacy.He also employed Mi Zhu, Sun Qian, Chen Deng and other old ministers to promote good governance. In this way, in the midst of "locust famine" and war, he ruled the land where the grass sprouts withered, seeking to restore the power of the people.In the eyes of the common people, hope revives in the hearts of the people. However, Cao Cao was quite surprised to hear the common people extolling Liu Bei's reputation, and said in a contemptuous tone, "What!? Liu Bei took Xuzhou? That Xuande actually sat on the throne of Xuzhou State Shepherd?" When Cao Cao learned of this fact, he was not only surprised, but also very angry. He said, "The dead Tao Qian was my late father's enemy, and Xuande should know about it. The revenge has not been avenged yet. And Xuande has no half-shot. , but sat on the throne of Xuzhou State Shepherd, it is really unreasonable!" Cao Cao thought that sooner or later the land of Xuzhou would be his own, and it had already been included in his future plans.Unexpectedly, someone suddenly spread good governance and established him as the governor of the state, which made his wishful thinking come to nothing, and he was very upset. "Since you know that I have a feud with Xuzhou and dare to serve as Xuzhou Mu, then you will have a feud with Cao Cao. He must have been prepared to take up the post. In this case, I will kill Liu Xuande first, and then whip Tao Qian's corpse , to avenge my late father!" Cao Cao immediately ordered to rectify the army. So Xun Yu came to remonstrate.This character, Cao Cao once said when he called him: "You are my Zhang Zifang." Xun Yu said: "The place where you are now is the center of the world, and it is an important base for you. The land of Yanzhou has been taken away by Lu Bu. If you encircle Yanzhou, the troops sent to Xuzhou will be insufficient. If you attack Xuzhou all the time, only It will make the enemies of Yanzhou consolidate their territory. Once Xuzhou cannot be captured and Yanzhou cannot be regained, where will you go?" "However, it's not a good idea to stay in a famine where there is no food..." "Exactly. For today's plan, we should recuperate soldiers and horses in the area from Runan (where the government is located in the north of Pingyu County, Henan Province) to Yingchuan in the east. There are still many remnants of the Yellow Turbans there. Going here can crusade against grass thieves and seize them. Food, fatten my soldiers and horses. And the court is willing to hear it, and the people welcome it. It can be said to kill two birds with one stone." "Okay, march into Runan!" Cao Cao is a straightforward person.Listening to people's good words and adopting them immediately are his strengths.His troops began to move eastward. In December of this year, Cao Cao's expeditionary force first attacked Chendi and swept through Yingchuan in Runan. "Cao Cao is coming!" "Cao Cao is coming!" His name resounded through the mountains like the winter wind.There are two leaders of the remnants of the Yellow Turban Party, He Yi and Huang Shao, who have searched for the people's anointing and fat for many years with Yangshan as the center. "What, Cao Cao is attacking? Cao Cao's territory is in Yanzhou. Fake Cao Cao. Beat them!" The two came to the foot of Yangshan Mountain and waited in ambush. Cao Cao ordered Elai before the battle: "Elai, go and find out the situation." Evil Lai Dianwei said "obedience", flew away, and soon came back to report, saying: "There are about 100,000 people. But they are all mobs, without discipline, and not in formation. Please put the strong bow in front and let them Taste the wind and arrows. I saw the opportunity to scatter them from the right flank." The result of the battle was just as Elai said.The enemy left countless corpses and fled in all directions.Others came in droves to surrender.The enemy army is fragmented. "No matter where there are no tigers in the mountains, there are monkeys who are called kings. There must be someone who can fight against a hundred thousand people." The fierce generals around Cao Cao stood on the sheep mountain and laughed. The next day, a giant man led a group of leopard soldiers to the front of the battle. This man does not ride a horse, he is more than seven feet tall, with an iron rod between his eyes, his eyes are dangling, his black beard is blown on his face by the mountain wind, and he shouts: "Oh, who am I!? There is no one in this place. The unknown Jietian Yasha He Man is me! Where is Cao Cao? If it is real Cao Cao, come out and fight me!" Cao Cao thought it was ridiculous, so he smiled and ordered: "Who is going to fight?" "Okay! Next..." Li Dian wanted to go.Cao Hong went out and said, "Leave it to me", got off his horse deliberately, raised his knife and approached He Man, saying: "Really, General Cao will not compete with you and other wild boar monsters. Watch the knife!" After all, he chopped down with a knife.He Man was furious, and swung his big stick to strike down. This guy is really brave, it looks like even Cao Hong is in danger.Cao Hong pretended to run away, braced his knees, and swung his knife backwards.Pretty!Beheaded at the waist. At this time Li Dian leaped out and captured Huang Shao alive on the horse.Another thief, He Yi, took two or three hundred of his men and fled up Gepi embankment in no time. At this moment, suddenly a strange army poured out from the mountains on one side without flying any flags.A strong man standing in front of the team suddenly blocked the road and kicked He Yi off his horse.He Yi fell off the horse headfirst, picked up the gun again, and said, "Hmph, who is it?" The strong man quickly pressed on and tied He Yi up. The bandits who followed He Yi trembled with fright, and all swore to surrender in front of the strong man. The strong man took his men and surrendered troops, high-spirited, and prepared to retreat to the original mountain. Dian Wei, who came after He Yi, didn't know what happened here, and shouted at the strong man, "Wait, wait! Where are you going to take He Yi?! Hand it over!" The strong man refused.The two heroes immediately turned into a one-on-one battle between dragons and tigers. Who is this strong man?Dian Wei suddenly thought of evil coming. Judging from the way he captured the thief alive and took him away, he was not a thief. But since he was fighting against him, he was definitely not one of his own. "Wait, strong man!" Elai withdrew his halberd and shouted, "Don't fight anymore. You don't seem to be the remnant of the Yellow Turban bandits. Dedicate the bandit He Yi to our general Cao Cao. This will save you from death." Hearing this, the strong man laughed and said, "Who is Cao Cao? To you, he may be a general, but to us, he is a person without any favors. I have no reason to capture He Yi who was finally captured alive." , dedicated to Cao Cao for no reason." "Who are you?" "I am Xu Chu from Qiao County." "A thief, or a tramp?" "A farmer in the world." "Hmph, a grassroots..." "You want He Yi that I captured alive so much, so come and grab the treasured sword in my hand. If you snatch the treasured sword, I will give He Yi to you." Dianwei was fooled by Xu Chu, and his anger was like a fire. Holding a halberd in each hand, Elai danced and chopped again.Xu Chu had the sword alone, but he defended very well, but he had the leeway and vigor to make the evil retreat step by step. Evil thought that he had never encountered a strong opponent that made him afraid, so he underestimated Xu Chu at the beginning of the fight, and only said "show him some color". However, the situation is turning against evil every second.Elai seemed to be getting tired, but Xu Chu's offensive suddenly increased. "Come on!" Elai started to fight with all his might, for the first time in his life.But Xu Chu didn't panic at all, his shout became more and more courageous, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, and the light of his sword brushed Elai's temples several times. In this way, the two heroes fought, from Chenshi to noon, the outcome was hard to tell.Because the mounts were exhausted and the sun had already set, the two parted ways, and it was still tied. Cao Cao arrived later, and has been standing on a high place watching the battle between the two heroes, waiting for the evil to come back, and said: "Fake defeat tomorrow, flee in the wild." In the next day's battle, according to Cao Cao's instructions, Elai swung his halberd for thirty rounds, then suddenly turned around and fled.Cao Cao also retreated five li on purpose to show his admiration to his opponent.Yi Ri fights again, pushing Eilai to the front. As soon as Xu Chu saw the evil figure, he jumped on his horse and said, "A coward who can run away! Come again if you have the guts!" Evil Lai acted like he was in a panic, while ordering his subordinates to "Go! Go!", but he himself ran away first. "I won't let you escape today!" Xu Chu fell into Cao Cao's plan and jumped into the trap.After chasing for a mile, all of a sudden, people and horses fell into a huge trap that Cao Cao had dug in advance. Immediately, ambush soldiers rushed out from all directions, rushing to the surroundings of the big pit, and stabbed Xu Chu's body with rakes and hooks indiscriminately. Xu Chu, who fell into the trap, was quickly dragged before Cao Cao. The soldiers made a noise, pressed Xu Chu's body to the ground with rakes and hooks, and brought him to Cao Cao like pulling a log or a wild boar. "Bastard! Escorting a man tied up with a rope, is it so noisy?" Cao Cao scolded.Then he said to the soldiers: "You don't have the eyes to see people, and you don't have the feeling to meet soldiers... Quickly untie!" This is unexpected, but it also makes sense.Because the day before yesterday, Cao Cao witnessed the scene of Xu Chu and Elai fighting until dusk, and thought: "This time I found a good man!" Down. Once Cao Cao regards him as an enemy, no one can save him.On the contrary, once Cao Cao favors him, his favor is no less than that of generals anywhere. He also knows how to love Shi, but once he hates, the hatred is twice as strong as others. As for Xu Chu, Cao Cao thought he was a pleasant person the first time he saw him, and he liked him very much. He thought, "It's a pity to kill him. We must try to make him a subject." "Give him your seat!" Cao Cao ordered the subordinates who escorted Xu Chu.He personally stepped forward and untied Xu Chu. Xu Chu was surprised and moved by this unexpected kindness.He stared at Cao Cao's face.Cao Cao asked about his life again. "I was born in Qiao County, my name is Xu Chu, and my name is Zhongkang. So far I have no experience to show off in front of others. If you ask why you live in a cottage, it is because we were harmed by thieves in this place. Robbery is often life-threatening. So in the end, I took the whole village and the whole family to build a fortress on the mountain to resist the bandits." Xu Chu told the whole story, cited examples, and narrated his painstaking efforts: "My subordinates are all good natives. They were attacked by the bandits, and they didn't have weapons like the bandits, so they had to store stones in the fort. When the bandits came, they would throw stones to resist. It's not a bragging, I threw The stones hit every shot, and recently even the bandits are afraid, and they don't dare to attack. "Once, there was no rice in the fortress, so I tried to get some rice. Fortunately, I happened to have two cows, so I asked the bandits for a deal. The bandits quickly agreed and sent the rice, so I handed over the cows on the spot. Go out. The thieves wanted to pull the ox back, but the ox didn't go away. It went mad on the way and ran back to our fort. "So I pulled the tails of the two giant oxen with both hands, let the oxen walk upside down near the barracks of the bandits, and sent the cows back. Seeing this, the bandits were so frightened that they dared not accept the cows. Where did it go. "Ahahaha... I'm a bit boastful. In this way, I finally saved the lives of a whole village, and I haven't been harassed by thieves until today. However, if you can use the power of your army to wipe out the thieves, you will lose me, the gatekeeper. , the old and the young in the village can return to the field with a hoe, so there is no regret. General, please start chopping." Xu Chu was not afraid, and talked freely, always with a smile on his face.Cao Cao didn't let him die, but gave him favor.Of course Xu Chu was happy and became Cao Cao's servant that day.